Although the effects of group‐based victimhood on attitudes and emotions have been demonstrated in previous research, the ways it affects cognitive processes remain unclear. Four studies examined how a perpetual ingroup victimhood orientation (PIVO) affects cognitive biases. High levels of PIVO were associated with the categorization of more outgroups as hostile to the ingroup, and more rapid responses when using an enmity criterion (Study 1). PIVO was also associated with more attributions of malevolent intentions and fewer attributions of neutral intentions to outgroup members in ambiguous situations (Study 2a); when primed with reminders of historical group trauma, attribution of malevolent intentions increased among high‐ but not low‐ PIVO individuals (Study 2b). However, the effect extended to all participants when using a larger sample (Study 2c). The implications of these categorization and attributional biases are discussed in particular as regards the self‐perpetuating nature of perceived group victimhood.

The current study examines adolescents' interpretations of a televised scene narrative describing a sexual initiation encounter. The study uses the media practice model (MPM) as a theoretical framework. Two hundred and ninety three 10 th -12 th graders suggested possible endings to the narrative, reflecting their outcome expectancies for sexual initiation. The adolescents' suggested scene endings were divided into ten different categories, including emotional, physical, and relational outcomes. A thematic analysis of their outcome expectancies revealed some shared themes. But important individual differences based on gender and sexual experience also were identified, consistent with MPM assumptions. Males were more technical and less emotional than women in their scene interpretations. Adolescents without sexual experience suggested more simplistic and deterministic outcomes than more sexually experienced teens. The study contributes to the understanding of adolescents' interpretation of mediated narratives in the context of sexual initiation and supports their complex, active, and developmentally-consistent understanding of this topic.